


New Beginnings

by Snedlimpan



Category: Teenage Bounty Hunters (TV)
Genre: A little angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hints of Domestic Violence, I wrote this instead of studying, Tags Are Hard, fucking outrageous, netflix stop cancelling my favourite shows, the end we deserved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snedlimpan/pseuds/Snedlimpan
Summary: April has a heart-to-heart with Sterling. No more secrets.
Relationships: April Stevens/Sterling Wesley
Comments: 7
Kudos: 111





	New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, this show is my latest obsession which kinda sucks since it's cancelled and the show ended dissatifying. Either way, it was a long time I've written longer stuff in english so I do apologise for this train-wreck.

The third room to the left on the second floor was tidy, as per usual. On any other normal day she would’ve liked it like it that way, but today, April Stevens would’ve preferred a little mess to absentmindedly clean up. As it were now, all she could do was walking back and forth across the room, searching in vain for a distraction. She felt that looming feeling of approaching anxiety in the pit of her stomach. At home she couldn’t play the mean girl persona to make her feel safe in moments like this. Which is one of many reasons as to why she preferred being in school.

They were fighting again. The yelling could be heard all the way from downstairs kitchen to her room. No, _they_ weren’t fighting, _he_ was. Ever since he came back from jail, April had wondered whether it was going to be like normal or if it was going to get worse. Her father had evidently chosen worse. She hadn’t talked to him, not really. Despite it being her duty as Christian and as a daughter to forgive, she just couldn’t do it. The anger still seared inside her when thinking about him and what he did; the fact that he wasn’t going to be punished over it only made her angrier. He had barely even apologised, the least he could do is being forced to sit off some time in prison. She could see that her mother’s just as upset with him as April is. Which is probably why he is fighting with her, as if you could scream someone to forgiveness. Whatever his reasoning for being this angry is, it make April feel unsafe and at unease.

When she walks past her charging phone for the 100th time she can’t resist it anymore. With anxiety-riddled, shaking hands she grabs the dang phone, unlocks it and press the text message app. _Sterling_. Her name is the first one on the list as she is the last one she texted. April scrolls up and reads old messages. She had deleted the explicit ones when she knew her father was back home, but even though the texts are gone, the conversation still has that _Feeling_ ™ in it.

April throws herself onto the bed. She closes her eyes as the memories from the night of the lock-in washes over her again. Never had she regretted herself as much as she does now. She had been mean to her, it shouldn’t have been surprising to see Sterling rush out of there in the middle of the night. April didn’t, however, regret being honest with her, she just wasn’t ready to be out. Certainly not out **and** proud. She wished Sterling had understood. April had spent the night awake, laying still in her sleeping bag and listening to her classmate’s snores and she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since. Maybe if she just tried to explain once more? Make it absolutely clear to her what April wanted? She had wanted to talk to Sterling, but the girl hadn’t showed up for school in a week now. She had begun to worry quite a lot and worrying made her frustrated. April Stevens was many things, decisive was one her more appreciated qualities and now her decision was made.

“Hello. I need to talk to you.” She typed fast, but added, “If you want to. Please.” Send. She felt calm; Alea Iacta Est.

She hadn’t expected Sterling to answer at once, she might have hoped, but she’s not foolish. After 10 minutes without an answer, the worried feeling in her stomach is back. After 20 minutes, she had to start walking back and forth again. When 30 long, excruciating minutes have past, April Stevens is practically a wreck. She is actually being ignored. The tears are streaming down, quietly, and she is shaking. Her mind begins to spin; her thoughts in complete disarray, she cannot focus on one thought at once, all of them demand her attention right this second. She is brought back by the sound of china breaking downstairs; her father seems to have started the throwing-match. With an iron-will, April forces herself to calm breaths as she dries her tears with the back of her hand. What now? _What is your plan, April? Compartmentalise._

April Stevens exited her room and is walking towards the staircase. She will be sitting on the middle stair as she did when she was little during her parents’ “disagreements”, just in case mother needs her. In her right hand, she is gripping her phone so hard her knuckles turn white, so she’s ready the second when Sterling answers. Leaning her tired head on the iron railing, she is struck by the thought that she should’ve slept after breakfast, she can’t think properly.

15 minutes pass of her half listening to her parents arguing, half thinking about Sterling. Her father smashes another plate or vase in the kitchen, she can hear her mother crying.

“Why can’t she just leave him?” April mumbles for herself. She is sick and tired of this, her frustration over her so-called love life is fusing with the frustration over her home life, they are fuelling each other. _The Bible discourages divorces but surely this can’t be acceptable either?_ Suddenly she hears Sterling’s voice and her words in her head, and the girl was right, the Bible is freaking old and it contradicts itself numerous times. She smiles faintly to herself just thinking about that conversation. Her friend had been quite cute that day, just rambling on and on, really, it was quite obvious to April right now why Sterling had acted _like that_. As her father smashes yet another thing, she realises she’s had enough of this for now. She gets up on her feet and marches into the kitchen.

It is apparent that the mere presence of their daughter in the middle of their “disagreement” surprised them, as if they’ve forgotten that she lives here too. It’s like watching a photograph, they really don’t move, barely breathing nor blinking, completely frozen. Her mother is sitting by the kitchen island and her father is gripping that ugly vase with two hands.

“I am going out. For a walk. Need some of that fresh air they keep recommend.” April tells them, harshly, as she feels they need to know that she knows. She is ignoring her father though, only speaking to her mum.

“Alright, honey. H-have fun.” It sounds more like a question. “Dinner’s at 6.” Her mom tries to smile and sort of succeeds, though April doesn’t trust that smile. Before she leaves she catches her father’s gaze which she return with a furious glare. _Why do I care so much of what you think of me when I hate you?_ Her father has the decency to look away first. With a cold smirk, April turns on her heal and walks out of there, but as she closes the front door, she can hear the sound of the ugly vase’s demise.

It is a nice day outside. Warm and sunny, but with a little wind here and there. It calms her down a bit, even if the sun light is burning in her tired eyes. The air has that unique smell in it after the morning rain. Really, had her life-circumstances been different, April would’ve enjoyed this beautiful day quite much.

Her phone vibrates in her hand and April’s heart takes a leap. _Sterling actually answered!_ She stops dead in her tracks, because the anger which erupts in her chest is almost violently enough for her to throw her phone away. It wasn’t Sterling, of course it wasn’t. That… _stupid_ weather app! She glares at her phone’s screen as she growls,

“Do you think it’s beneath me to throw you away, phone? Don’t. Tempt. Me.”

The ridiculousness of threating a phone is not lost on April Stevens. In fact, she quickly lowers her phone again, looks up and continues to walk. A stranger stride past her and by the looks of it, they heard her speaking to her phone, since they stare down on her with a confused expression. She ignores them, she is a woman with a mission, she doesn’t have time to feel mildly ashamed because of a sweaty looking stranger’s judgement.

Finally, she reaches her destination. The white, enormous house in the polished, gated community. She had been here before, when they were little, but that is ages ago now. For the first time since she had the idea to walk to Sterling’s home to confront her, she hesitates. What if she doesn’t want to see her here? What if she makes it worse?

“April. Last time you spoke to her, you said you weren’t ready. That you _might_ be ready someday. You more or less broke up with her, how can it possibly be worse than that?” she mumbles, as she quietly asks herself what the deal is with the amount of talking to herself lately. She shakes her head and sighs, reminding herself of just how much she misses Sterling. Now or never. With all the courage she can muster, April moves toward the massive front door, feeling herself turn pale. With a deep breath she knocks. And waits. Knocks again. She can hear someone approaching the door from inside, her heart is in her mouth. It is Mrs. Wesley who opens the door.

“April Stevens? Long-time no seen. How are you?”

“I am fine, thank you.” Despite acting together, April can see on Mrs. Wesley’s face that something is wrong. She is worried. Or scared even. “I am here to see Sterling.”

“Oh, I don’t know if that is such a good idea, she’s had quite the… rough few days. She’s resting.” Did she tell her parents? What is going on? April is confused.

“I am sorry, Mrs. Wesley, but I have something important to discuss with Sterling and she doesn’t answer her phone. It is paramount that you’ll allow me to meet with Sterling.” She put on that face and add that tone which adults like, the one that usually allow April to be taken seriously, make them forget that she is just a kid. It works this time too. Sterling’s mother looks dumb struck as she steps aside to allow her to enter.

“Thank you, ma’am.” She says as she hurries inside before Mrs. Wesley can change her mind. The determined girl rushes up the stairs, taking for granted that Sterling has the same bedroom now as she did before. When she reaches the right door, hesitation washes over her again. Is this really appropriate? But _I have come this far_. She knocks and opens the door.

Sterling’s laying on her bed, sprawled across it like a sea star, staring up at the roof, Blair is stroking her sister’s forehead. They both turn to look at her with the same confused and surprised expression. It is dead silent as neither one of them knows what to say or do. April steps inside and closes the door behind her.

“Hi, Sterling. A-and Blair.” She says faintly with her arms hanging awkwardly by her sides, suddenly very aware over how funny she must look standing up.

“What are you doing here?” Blair snarls, looking annoyed. She never had any manners. April is reminded that Blair know about her and Sterling, and she flushes red.

“I am here to talk to Sterling. If she wants to hear what I’m here to say, that is. I’m sorry, I tried to text first.” Her gaze meets Sterling’s, causing a bubbly feeling in her stomach. She looks tired and upset as she nods. Blair can’t read the room and stays put as Sterling sits up in bed. Both of them side-eye Blair who finally takes the hint and leaves.

“Shout if it is something, sis.”

When she finally has Sterling’s undivided attention, and a little privacy, April suddenly doesn’t know what to say. In a way she hadn’t expected it to come this far, so she stares down at her feet, her mind working hard to find something to say. But she’s just grasping for fleeting thoughts and her tongue is unexpectedly made of iron.

“April?” The sound of Sterling saying her name sends a jolt through her body. She is alive and has control of her body again, which prompts her to sit down on the bed next to Sterling. They are sitting close now, almost as close as they did in the car, but it doesn’t spark the same feelings in April now like it did then, because something is wrong. Something has happened to Sterling and that’s worrying.

“I came here to say… I-I don’t really know what if I am being honest. I just felt like I needed to say something. To make it right again. I… I don’t know.”

“Make it right?”

“Between us. I-I miss you, Sterling. And I can’t just go back to being your nemesis. Not even I am that afraid.”

Sterling just stares into her eyes and she remains silent. And April is scared she ruined it for good. She once again feels the hot tears burn in her eyes. She can’t meet her gaze anymore, so she looks down on Sterling’s neck instead.

“I am sorry for what I said. I-I was just so _fucking_ scared. And I. I don’t think I can give you exactly what you want right now, but I can give you so much else, even if it has to be a secret for now. And. But. I mean. Even if it’s too late I needed to say this so you can come back to school at least. See? I won’t- I won’t be your nemesis anymore.” April rambles on as she cries. Sterling grabs her hand and holds it tenderly. The gesture is what it takes from April to dare to look up again, and as she does, she notices that she isn’t the only one who’s crying.

“April, I didn’t stop coming to school because of you. I mean, a little maybe, but not primarily.” She says quietly.

“Then what happened? You didn’t respond to my texts, so I thought… it was me.”

Sterling closes her eyes and lean her head on April’s shoulder. She hasn’t washed her hair, but it still smells good. They sit in silence for a while, she knows that Sterling need time to say whatever it is that’s wrong, she just grabs Sterling’s hand, the one which is already holding her own.

“So, you know how Blair was convinced our mum was this criminal mastermind or whatever? And how we followed a trace that Blair found?”

“Yes? Blair was correct?” _Seems unlikely_.

“Not-not really. The real story is a lot crazier than that.”

“You can tell me.” Sterling straighten her neck and stared forward. It looks like she is undergoing an internal struggle and when she is done, she turns her head to look right into April’s eyes. There is a sadness and a burning anger in them, April notices.

“Alright, but you won’t believe me.”

It takes Sterling quite a long time to tell the story. A story that indeed is more bizarre than April ever could imagine, and she does struggle to believe what she is telling her. But Sterling look so sincere. Blair comes back to help her sister fill in the gaps. Finally, the last truth-bomb is dropped.

“So, you are… cousins?”

“Yes and no.” Sterling says quietly.

“No, we are sisters.” Blair says adamantly. “Nothing will change that.” But Sterling doesn’t say anything, and a hurt look erupts on Blair’s face. She leaves yet again.

“Sterling. Sometimes your “real” parent is someone you wish you weren’t related to.” April spits out the thought she had carried around for weeks now. She hugs her favourite person and she leans her head against April’s chest.

“I know. And honestly? I don’t see Dana as my mother. Mum is my mum. I just wished she hadn’t told me. I wish I never had found out. Because it feels like things will change now. I am scared that mum will start acting like an aunt.”

“Maybe you ought to say that to her? She didn’t exactly look fine either, perhaps she is scared you’ll start acting like her niece? And don’t you think the Lord has something planed out? We can’t really know what it is now, but it might be clearer in the future. Maybe you’ll end up with two great mothers instead of one?” She squeezes Sterling’s hand a little. “You will be fine, Sterl.”

“I know, you are probably right. It is still kind of hard, though.”

“Of course.” She hugs her somewhat girlfriend more tightly.

They let the silence fall over them again, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence. The sun has found its way through Sterling’s window, its rays are warming their backs. It feels… cosy. April smiles.

“Sterling? I still don’t understand something. Bowser, your boss at the yoghurt place, how come he knows so much about tracking?”

“Oh. Well, that is because he is a bounty hunter.” She sighs deeply. “April, there is something I have to tell you. You won’t like it. In fact, you might hate me after it.” 

“Blair and I have been working as bounty hunters for a while. We accidentally crashed into a car with our dad’s, which we weren’t allowed to take. And it turned out that he was a skipper who thought we were after him. Which we weren’t. But then Bowser appears, and he was actually after the skipper. We helped him arrest him so we could get money to fix dad’s car. And then we sort of got stuck in it because it was quite exciting.” April blinks. What a weird day it must be, to find out your more or less girlfriend is a bounty hunter, and that isn’t even the weirdest story she’s told today.

“Oh. I see…? And as surprising as that is, why would I hate you for it?”

“Uh, because we sort of helped Bowser arrest your dad. It was us who brought him in.”

April scotches away from Sterling, she absolutely cannot believe this. She stares incredulously at the sad girl next to her. There has been too much information for today.

“Are you telling me, Sterling, that you and Blair, two teenage girls, brought my dad to jail?”

“Y-Yes.”

“How, exactly?” She sounded a bit harsher than she had meant to.

“Oh, well we threatened him with our guns, he tried to run so Blair lacrosse tackled him with her shotgun. Then we handcuffed him and put him in the car. He was swearing a lot.” Sterling looks worriedly at April, who just cannot believe her own ears.

 _Am I angry?_ April askes herself. No, she wasn’t angry. In her mind’s eye she can see the event take place. He was probably sitting by the docks, as he normally does in their lake house. She gets a sudden epiphany, a moment of clarity: he asked about Blair and Sterling because he is angry they brought him in, not because _he knows_. Because he did get punished. Her conservative father was overpowered by two girls with a shotgun, he must have felt so humiliated. And it is just too hilarious.

Sterling looks confused as April burst out laughing. She does that awkward laughing, when she tries to laughs _with_ you so you won’t laugh _at_ her, because she genuinely cannot understand why April is finding this funny.

“So, you don’t hate me?”

“No, Sterling. I think- I actually I love you.”

“You’re not even angry?”

“At you? No. He had it coming.”

Sterling smiles and scotches over to April, so they sit closely again. The bubbly feeling spreads across April’s body as Sterling puts her hand on her cheek.

“So, you said that you love me, huh?”

“It appears so, yes.” They shoot a quick glance at the closed door before they kiss.


End file.
